


Silent

by Joeanthur



Category: Original Work
Genre: Character Death, Child Abuse, Muteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-04 17:03:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12173094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joeanthur/pseuds/Joeanthur
Summary: Lucas has always had a rough life, and it was just about to get worse, with his mother getting sick, tensions in the house were rising, and someone was about to explode





	Silent

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: THIS SHORT STORY HAS MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE

Lucas was five. Andrew was ten. Their parents were in their family doctor's office while Andrew and Lucas were sitting in the waiting room right outside. Andrew made a funny face at Lucas and Lucas opened his mouth as though he was laughing, but no sound came out.  
This doctor was a friend of the family. He had helped the Green family when they realized Lucas wasn't normal. He couldn't make any noise whatsoever. The Doctor gave the diagnosis of birth defects and faulty vocal cords. Lucas could hear just fine and comprehend perfectly, but he was completely unable to make sounds of any kind.  
Lucas knew sign language and could communicate that way well, but life was still hard for the young boy. Lucas asked a lot of questions about his condition. The question that broke his mother's heart the most was why couldn't he talk like everyone else. She never knew what to say, so she just gave Lucas a sad look and turned away.  
The Mother came out of the office crying softly. The Father didn't seem upset at all.  
“Morgan it'll be alright.” The Father held her hand and smiled at her.  
“How can you say that.” It sounded more like an accusation than a question.   
“What's going on?” Asked Andrew, standing up. The Mother cried quietly.   
"Nothing, she's going to be okay."   
The Mother was openly sobbing now, leaning against her husband, who offered no comfort. He seemed almost indifferent to the situation.  
"Honey I'm not gonna make it."   
Andrew turned away, tearing up as he balled up his fists. He could tell something was really wrong with The Mother when they went to get the scans of her head; around the time she started talking funny. It wasn't fair.  
Lucas wasn't sure of what was going on but The Mother and Andrew were crying, so Lucas did too. The Mother picked up Lucas and held Andrew's hand as they walked out of the building and out to the car.  
The Mother put Lucas in the car seat and Andrew buckled him in. The Father got in the driver's seat and waited for The Mother. The Mother and The Father were quiet the whole way home, occasionally making small talk.  
Andrew was trying feverishly to explain what was going on to Lucas.  
“Mommy is leaving in a year for forever.”  
'Why'  
“She has a bad thing in her head.”  
Lucas’s eyes widened and his signing got messy and frantic.  
“I don't understand, try again, slower this time.”  
'Why...Mommy...love...help.' Andrew could only understand every few words.  
“Lucas!” Yelled The Father, as he slammed his free hand on the dashboard of the car, “If you're not going to sign correctly, don't sign at all.”  
Lucas put his hands down. Lucas didn't like it when The Father yelled.  
“He's upset, give him a break.” Andrew snapped. The Father pulled the car over, they were on a small highway, and cars sped by, gently rocking the car as they passed.   
“Don't you ever speak to me like that again boy.” The Father leaned into the backseat.  
“Stop.” Was all she said. The Father turned back to face her and smacked his hand across The Mother's face. He then turned back to Lucas.  
“This is your fault, if you hadn't been born like this, your mother would be fine.” The Father was red in the face from anger.  
“This isn't his fault. Listen to yourself! Lucas has nothing to do with what's happening with mom!” Andrew shouted back. He turned to Lucas. “It's not your fault Lucas, it's not.”  
Lucas hid his face in his arms. The Father turned around and continued the trip home. The Mother was still crying by the time they got home.  
~  
Just about three months later, The Mother stopped speaking completely. She didn't use sign language like Lucas and when presented with a pen and paper, she only wrote that she had nothing left to say. She still sang. It was beautiful to hear her sing in the midst of her silence.  
It made The Father mad. He hated that she didn't talk. The Father loved her voice, but her singing wasn't enough for him. He craved to hear her tell him she loved him.  
He began to drink and was almost never home. He couldn't stand to be around his family, it hurt too much.  
Andrew and Lucas were both in school now. So The Mother was left at home by herself. Lucas went to the same school as Andrew. The school provided an interpreter for Lucas, but Lucas didn't like her. She didn't understand that Lucas could hear, and her constant signing while the teacher spoke was distracting. He told Andrew about it and Andrew promised to talk to the interpreter. Andrew felt like it was up to him to protect his brother.   
Months passed with a silent household. The Father often worked late, or went the bar with his friends, and both The Mother and Lucas couldn't speak. Andrew chose to use sign language when talking to Lucas or The Mother because when he talked out loud The Mother looked really sad. Andrew could understand why, he knew she was having a hard time coming to terms with her diagnosis. He knew Lucas loved it when Andrew talked out loud to him, he loved how normal it felt when Andrew spoke to him instead of signing, and felt bad for signing to him during this time, but he felt The Mother's happiness mattered a little more right now.   
It was Lucas' birthday when the boys came home to find The Father's truck in the driveway. They heard sirens and ran home from the bus stop into the house, past all of uniformed men and women. The Father was holding The Mother and pushing a bandage against her chest.  
Lucas made a noise, a strangled, quiet noise, but a noise, It scared Lucas nearly as much as the sight before him did. It was the first time Lucas had made a noise in his life.  
The Mother's breathing was ragged and she was gasping loudly. EMTs busied around them inside the house, gently shoving Lucas out of the way. Another EMT picked up Lucas and took him outside, Andrew followed.  
Lucas thrashed and hit the EMT, wanting to be put down.  
“Put him down, he wants to be down.” Andrew shouted at the EMT, almost chanting, until the EMT complied and put Lucas down. Lucas ran and hid behind Andrew. “It's okay Lucas, Mommy will be okay.” Andrew held Lucas's hand.  
The Mother was carried out on a gurney and placed in the ambulance. The Father climbed in behind the EMTs.  
“Andrew, stay here and watch Lucas. I'll be home soon.” The Father called out before the doors were closed. Andrew nodded as they drove off.   
“It'll be okay Lucas.” Andrew guided Lucas back into the house. They avoided the blood on the carpet as they went into the living room. Policemen who had been standing behind everyone else before were now combing the area. One picked a knife up off the counter and bagged it. Another came over and asked for the two boys to follow them. He was very nice as he escorted Andrew and Lucas to the police car and helped them into the backseat. They didn't have a car seat for Lucas, but Lucas was excited to be riding in a car the same way his brother did instead of in a car seat. It seemed like Lucas almost forgot the scene they had come home to.   
Once at the police station, they were put into a small room with just a couple chairs and a table. They simply sat there for hours.   
Later the same policeman who brought the two boys to the station came back in with a pen and paper.   
He sat down and introduced himself, "I'm officer Alex Skinner, I'm going to be asking you both some questions about your parents okay?" Both Andrew and Lucas nodded.   
"Alright, can you tell me what's been going on at home lately with your parents? Have they been fighting or did something extreme happen lately? Even if you don't think it's important, please tell me."   
Andrew explained that they hadn't been fighting, that The Mother was sick and hadn't been talking much, and that The Father had been working a lot. Officer Skinner asked about Lucas not speaking and Andrew told him that he couldn't talk, but that he could hear. After a couple hours of questioning, the officer brought them food, sandwiches and chips, and they continued to wait until The Father came.   
The Father came past dark, and had to talk the officer and sign some papers before they could leave. When they left, a friend of The Father's was sitting in his car, and The Father told the boys to get in. The man dropped them both off in front of the house and The Father gave a key to Andrew.   
"Head inside, I'm going out with Patrick." He instructed.   
The boys went inside. Since it was past 9, Andrew put Lucas to bed. He then went and sat in the living room, turning on the TV but keeping the volume low so that it wouldn't bother Lucas.   
It was a couple hours later that The Father came home. His face was bright red and he was breathing heavily.   
“Where is Lucas.”, demanded the Father.  
“In bed.” Andrew said confidently. He hoped The Father would be proud of him, stepping up like that to take care of Lucas. The Father nodded. He then took off his belt, and walked toward the back of the house, where Lucas's room was. Andrew watched him, worried, but stayed where he was, hoping his instinct was wrong about what was about to happen. Andrew held back a sob when he heard the sound of the belt against skin, and of a struggle. He peeked back just in time to see Lucas, with a split lip and welts forming on him, squeeze himself into a corner of the room, where The Father couldn't reach him.  
“YOU MADE ME KILL HER YOU ROTTEN BOY. YOU BROUGHT THIS UPON THIS FAMILY. YOU DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE, YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED IN HER PLACE.” The Father bellowed as he keep trying to grab Lucas. Tears soaked his injured face, and he was shivering out of fear.  
Andrew was speechless. The Father turned to see him.  
“You say a word about this boy and I'll kill ya. And I'll kill him,” He threatened, pointing to Lucas, “And lastly, I'll kill the poor soul you told. You understand boy!”  
Andrew nodded quickly. The Father snatched Lucas by the hair while he wasn't paying attention and dragged him to the basement. He locked the door behind him, leaving Lucas in the dark. Andrew pleaded for The Father to let Lucas out, that it wasn't his fault, that Lucas would be good, that he would be good, that they would listen and not tell anyone. The Father just ignored him.  
The next day The Father went and took Lucas out of school. He told the principal that the death of his mother had hit him hard and that he wanted to keep Lucas out of school for a couple months to help him recover.  
That was a lie. Lucas never went to school again.  
The Father kept him in the basement, only letting him out two or three times a day to go to the bathroom, and if he couldn't hold it, The Father beat him. Lucas was to be fed once a day, before The Father left for work. Andrew was not to talk to Lucas, or look at Lucas. Lucas was a disgrace who killed The Mother. Andrew began to skip school, enough to keep Lucas safe, but not to the point where The Father would notice. He brought Lucas food, taught him as much as he could to keep him educated. He tended to his wounds after some of The Father's more brutal beatings.  
In their secret meetings, they began to plan. They would wait until Andrew was eighteen, then they would escape while The Father was at work. They would go live on their own. Andrew would get a job, rent a house, and everything would be okay. As they got older, their plan got more concrete. Andrew learned how to drive, and got a job at sixteen at a nearby market. Andrew saved as much as he could, trying desperately to make sure their plan didn't fail. Lucas was getting skinnier and skinnier as the years passed. Then the day came. For Andrew's eighteenth birthday, The Father let him have his first beer, and baked him a small cake. They never did anything for Lucas's birthdays. It was hard for Andrew to even remember what his birthday was, it had been so long. For eight years Lucas was stuck in the basement, treated like a burden rather than a son.  
The day after Andrew's birthday, The Father left for work and Andrew went down into the basement. Lucas had been wearing hand-me-downs from Andrew, and these were still big on him.  
“Let's go.” Andrew whispered. Lucas got up and followed Andrew. Andrew had clothes and some nonperishable food items in a suitcase. They put the suit case in the trunk of Andrew's car and drove off. They found a hotel and stayed there until they found an apartment in a nearby town. They dyed their hair so they would be less recognizable. Andrew dropped out of high school and got his GED. Lucas went to the library while Andrew was at work and studied as much as he could.  
They lived this way until Lucas got his own GED and moved out on his own. They had found out later that The Father confessed to murdering The Mother and was in jail. No one had came looking for them, but it was better that way.  
Lucas was never happier than he was now. He could still remember the day they left. Andrew had said, “We did it Lucas. We're free.” And to this day, it still brought a smile to his face. He was free.


End file.
